Baked Eggs and Chorizo

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with cast iron. I love all of my enameled Le Creuset pieces but the regular cast iron drives me crazy. It’s an amazing conductor of heat. It makes the best crust you’ll ever have on a steak and is also perfect for skillet cakes and baked egg dishes. But it can be SUCH a pain to clean. I know proper seasoning makes all the difference, but I bet everyone who uses cast iron has at least one story of endless scouring.

Mine happened just the other day when I pulled these mini-skillets out of storage. There was rust on the sides! NOOOOOOOOOO. What a pain it was to clean. No matter how much coarse salt I used, the rust just wouldn’t go away completely. I tried salt, heating the pans until they were smoking and then scouring, more salt… finally it seemed as though I had a clean skillet, ready to be re-seasoned and used. Until I go and mess everything up again.

But these baked eggs with chorizo kind of made the whole ordeal worth it. I bought some fantastic sausage from the local butcher at Wagshal’s. I don’t eat a lot of meat but when I do I try to get the good stuff. I have no time for cheap sausage in my life. I kept adding ingredients as I went along. The few remaining grape tomatoes from my garden… some Sriracha to tickle my palate. Baby arugula for a splash of green and a bit more spice.

Tell me, readers, what are your tricks for dealing with pesky cast iron?

Print

Baked Chorizo and Eggs

Prep Time

10mins

Cook Time

35mins

Total Time

45mins

Baked eggs and chorizo make a simple dinner or brunch.

Course:
Brunch, Main Course

Cuisine:
American, Mexican

Servings: 2servings

Author: Jennifer Farley

Ingredients

2chorizo links,preferably fresh

115 ouncecan plain tomato sauce

Srirachaor your hot sauce of choice

1/2yellow onion,chopped

6-8grape tomatoes,halved

baby arugula

2large eggs

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

If using fresh chorizo, slowly render the fat in a skillet over low heat. Gradually begin turning up the heat, allowing all sides of the chorizo to cook and eventually brown. Periodically deglaze the pan with water and scrape up the brown bits. This will prevent the bottom of the pan from burning and it will incorporate the yummy caramelized bits back onto the sausage. This should take approximately 20 minutes, give or take.

Allow the sausage to cool for a bit and then slice each link into 10-12 pieces.

Briefly saute the chopped onions in the leftover chorizo fat (you can also use olive oil if pre-cooked chorizo was used).

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Ladle 1/4 cup of tomato sauce into the bottom of mini cast iron skillets or ramekins.

Drizzle some Sriracha on top of the tomato sauce (the amount will depend on your preference for heat. I used about 2 tablespoons per pan.)

Line the chorizo slices in the bottom of each skillet and top with another dollop of tomato sauce (approximately 2 tablespoons per pan, doesn't need to be exact.

Divide the onions in half and evenly spread over the chorizo.

Layer on the cherry tomatoes followed by the arugula.

Break the eggs into separate ramekins, leaving the yolk intact, and then carefully pour the into each skillet.

Bake until the egg whites are just set, 10-15 minutes (they will continue to cook outside of the oven).

I LOVE my cast iron! It’s pretty much all I use anymore. If something gets really burnt on I just let my pans soak in hot water for a while and everything seems to come right off. Sometimes I need to scrape them with a plastic scraper. After I wash them I put the wet pan on the stove and turn the burner on really low. After they heat up and the water evaporates I pour a little oil in the pan and then wipe it out with a paper towel or newspaper. That’s it. Works for me!

I am only just beginning to cook with cast iron. I have some Le Creuset pots which I use for stews and I think I ruined one of them making jam because it calls for 5 minutes on high heat to boil and set the jam and I was left with a big black circle that all the online help couldn’t get rid of. Finally scrubbed it off but I think it’s chipped the enamel now.

I have had a cast iron griddle for ages as well but stopped using it because where I wanted a nice sear with those lovely markings, everything just stuck to it. But apparently the more you use it (seasoning it every time as Robin says above, is meant to help.

Having said the above, the food that comes out of anything cast iron just seems to taste better for me…

I think those pictures are very, very good. The recipe is amongst my favourites anyway. Cast iron pans can be hell to clean, but the results are worth it.
By the way, it seems that the box “Comment Luv” is ticked by default on your blog.

I have the exact same pan. I don’t normally do eggs in it (though I have used it for a few 18 egg tortillas) – I normally deglaze it with red wine and then season it after each use. Everything tastes good with chorizo ;-)

i have one cast iron pot that i made a rabbit stew in once, and recently i made a rustic bread. before, i had nuria do the cleaning (since i did the cooking) and she did a great job of seasoning it. should i require it, i’ll probably have her do it for me again. i have been thinking about getting a skillet, they make such great dishes, like this one.

Jen, this looks amazing! If you’ll send me your address, I’ll send you a scour pad that my dad is getting a patent for. Might help keep things a little cleaner. I also recommend using bacon grease instead of vegetable / nut oils in your cast iron pan. That will help keep it looking its best, although it’s not as healthy!!

Here’s how I deal with my cast iron:
Clean as soon after cooking in it as you can;
Wash with really warm water–as hot as your hands can tolerate;
NO SOAP WHATSOEVER!!!–cannot stress that enough;
If there is a copious amount of stuck-on food, let pan soak with hot water in it–do not submerge in water;
I like to use Scotch Brite heavy duty scouring pads;
Season after every use–dry completely and place about a teaspoon of vegetable oil in pan and use a pastry brush or paper towel to coat the inside of the pan. Place in a pre-heated 200 degree oven for 30 minutes.
Your pan will develop a nice patina and will become virtually non-stick.

I love my cast iron and use it frequently – I think a big factor of what happened with your mini-skillets was the fact that they were in storage? Cast iron is meant to be used as much as possible – the more it’s used, the better it will function.

Some of the comments above reference using no soap and soaking in hot water to remove any stuck-on food. I totally agree – I always rinse mine with hot water, dry with a paper towel and put away. I also season mine frequently after using – not after EVERY use . . .but frequently.

That looks amazing! I’m not a big user of cast iron, though I love my Le Creuset grill pan, but this recipe could change my mind. I also don’t eat a lot of meat but splurge on the good stuff when I do.

This is a lovely dish! I like the addition of the arugula, and since I like breakfast for dinner, this is a keeper. About cast iron…I was taught by my grandmother and have excellent results. I agree with others about the “no soap” rule, but not to be too afraid of water. I do put the skillet on the stove to dry it. I always heat it thoroughly after each cleaning, and then add just a little bit, very little, oil to the pan after it cools. As the pan seasons some of the problems seem to lessen, too. And I like your statement about buying “good” sausage. My much older friend always says, “Life is too short to eat stale chips.” Same idea…and worth remembering! :-)

My grandmother always cooked in cast iron, but I’m still not comfortable with it. I guess I need another excuse to pull mine out! Thank you for providing it for me. And thank you for sharing such sensuous photograhs. Your blog was a delicious stop during my lunch break. I hope you have a great Monday!

Oooh, I struggle with the same thing with my cast iron! I LOVE the results in it, but it is SUCH a pain to clean and I never seem to butter it enough to prevent things from sticking! This recipe does look worth it though, way to break out the elbow grease :)

I love cast iron, but I for sure don’t use the wonderful pans enough! In Tucson, I loved ordering a chorizo and egg burritos. Your recipe looks seriously delicious! What a perfect dish for breakfast, lunch, OR dinner:-) Take care, Terra

Nice Recipe. One trick to get rid of rust is to use Aluminium Foil to give the rusty parts a rub down. What happens is a chemical reaction between iron oxide (which is rust) and aluminium, where the aluminium rips off the oxygen atom from iron, and turns the rust back into iron and aliminium oxide. You’ll want to wash your pan thoroughly after that to remove the residual aluminium oxide before cooking, but your rust will be gone!

I have two cast iron skillets sitting in my kitchen sink right now waiting to be cleaned. I can totally relate to hating to clean them!! But I do love them and cook with them all the time – it’s worth it!

If you have food that sticks; put enough water to half fill the skillet place on stove and let it come to a boil. After it reaches boiling remove and run hot water over the skillet. Take a scrubbing sponge wash with hot water. All the build up will be removed.

Now, you will have to re season the skillet. Take crisco and cover all the interior of the skillet; turn oven on to 300; place skillet bottom up on cookie sheet covered in alum foil and bake for 1 hour. turn off oven let cool and skillet is ready to go again. You have to season a skillet every time you use it until it build up. When you have the correct amount of build up water will run off like a non stick pan does.

The real problem you may have thought the skillets were seasoned. A lot of companies say they season them but when you use them you get a mess.

I keep crisco shortening and use it to season the skillets. I have one skillet that was given to my grandmother when she married in 1900.

It seems like a little work but the rewards far out way the time it takes.

I have a cast iron skillet that I bought at a Salvation Army store in 1978. This skillet has traveled and camped with me for all these years and is still being used four days a week!! I have scrubbed it with everything imaginable; creek sand, ocean sand, all different kinds of salt and yes, I do and have used dish soap on it. It is still doing it’s job and I oil it down often but not after every wash (with soap). I have no idea how old the skillet was when I bought it but I’ve had it for 34 years!! It’s my burner oven at times also…

I’m still getting used to my cast iron too. My mother-in-law recently gave me a helpful recommendation about cleaning cast iron: when your food is done cooking, pour water into the pan while it is still hot. It will sizzle and create a lot steam, but all of the extra stuck on food bits then come up very easy. I was able to carefully dump the water into the sink, wipe down my skillet and re-season it. It was the easiest clean up I’ve had yet! Good luck!

When getting rust off of cast iron pans use steel wool. Yes you can, just for removing rust. Then treat as usual. Always use shortening, lard or bacon grease to treat. Never use an oil, will leave it sticky& can turn rancid.

Hi, I’m Jen

I’m a Maryland native living just outside of Washington DC. I graduated from culinary school in 2010 and have been cooking and baking professionally ever since. My goal at Savory Simple is to create everyday gourmet recipes that are easy to prepare at home. Thanks for visiting!

Subscribe to New Recipes

E-Mail Address

Summer Recipes

@SavorySimple on Instagram

Be Kind

All content on Savory Simple is protected by copyright and may not be used without express written permission. If you’d like to use one of my recipes or photos, please contact me. If you wish to adapt one of my recipes, please rewrite the instructions in your own unique voice, and link back to the original post. Thank you!